RED camera menu simulator app gets update

Donna, Weapon upgrade and Dragon Scales

Donna, the RED camera menu simulator app, gets an update which makes it an even more useful companion for your next shoot. Plus, a new app, Dragon Scales, could be the answer to a common RED-related dilemma.

We first profiled Donna, the ingenious little iOS app that emulates the graphical menu display of RED Epic and Scarlet cameras, back at the start of 2015. Rather than a remote or similar tool to control camera functions, Donna simply provides the replicated menus with no connection to the camera, but it's still useful for anyone that needs a quick primer on RED menus before (and during) a shoot.

Weaponized

The team behind Donna has apparently been working hard behind-the-scenes to improve Donna. Now, we're starting to see those improvements surface. The team has announced support for RED Weapon menus, which was to be expected, but a welcome addition nonetheless. Raven support was also teased; however, that must wait for a future update.

Dragon Scales?

Based on feedback from leading DITs, the Donna team discovered that many shared the same problem: namely, that people wanted to know what frame rates were possible at what aspect ratios and resolutions. Dragon Scales is an attempt to solve that problem, with a simplified interface and method for determining possible frame rates on RED cameras.

There's still no news of Android versions of these apps, so it's currently iOS or nothing. But for iPhone and iPad users (who happen to work with RED cameras), these tools could be valuable additions to your kit.